Process for the isolation and characterization of a gene enzyme system for inactivation of the herbicide phenmedipham and transfer of the gene into plants to produce herbicide-tolerant plants

ABSTRACT

A process for the isolation and characterization of a gene enzyme system for the inactivation of the herbicide phenmedipham, wherein the enzyme is a carbamate hydrolase of Arthrobacter oxidans, which is responsible for the cleavage of the carbamate bond between the benzene rings of phenmedipham. This process includes the isolation of the carbamate hydrolase, the identification of the amino acid sequence of two BrCN cleavage peptides of the carbamate hydrolase, the synthesis of oligonucleotides for specific determination of the carbamate hydrolase sequence by hybridization and identification of the coding region, cloning and specifying the nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene from Arthrobacter oxidans.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/196,361, filed Feb. 14, 1994, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,306, which is a division of application Ser. No. 07/615,448, filed Nov. 19, 1990, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,076, which is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 07/353,871, filed on May 18, 1989, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process for the isolation and characterization of a gene enzyme system for the inactivation of the herbicide phenmedipham and transfer of the gene into plants to produce herbicide-tolerant plants. The enzyme is a carbamate hydrolase of Arthrobacter oxidans, which is responsible for the cleavage of the carbamate bond between the benzene rings of phenmedipham which is the common name for the herbicide methyl 3-m-tolylcarbamoyloxyphenyl-carbamate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In practice it is often necessary to use several herbicides or herbicide mixtures to combat various weeds. These problems can be avoided by a biotechnical change to the plant in which resistance to a non-selective herbicide is introduced.

The production of herbicide-tolerant plants is now coming more to the foreground in the plant protection area.

In order to produce herbicide-tolerant plants, it is necessary first to have a process for the isolation and subsequent purification of an enzyme which is able to inactivate a herbicide, e.g. by metabolism, and then to have a process for characterizing the gene enzyme system containing the DNA sequence that codes for the active enzyme. After these steps the DNA sequence of the gene can be transferred into plants.

Such a process for the isolation and subsequent characterization of a gene enzyme system which can inactivate phenmedipham and the transfer of this gene enzyme system into plants was not previously known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that a carbamate hydrolase can be isolated from some microorganisms, such as Arthrobacter oxidans, which is responsible for the hydrolysis of the carbamate bond between the two benzene rings of phenmedipham. The hydrolysis of this bond leads to herbicidally inactive compounds such as methyl 3-hydroxyphenylcarbamate and meta-toluidine, according to the following reaction: ##STR1##

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For isolation and subsequent purification of a gene enzyme system which can hydrolyse phenmedipham according to the above described reaction, microorganisms of Arthrobacter oxidans are cultivated in a nutrient medium. The carbamate hydrolase responsible for the cleavage of phenmedipham is isolated by ultrasound cell destruction, centrifugation and purification by anion exchange chromatography, gradient elution, ammonium sulphate precipitation and FPLC separation until electrophoretic homogeneity is achieved. From the purified carbamate hydrolase, two peptides are isolated after BrCN cleavage whose sequence can be estimated by Edman degradation. According to the sequence information of these peptides, oligonucleotides can be synthesized which can be used as hybridization probes for the detection of the carbamate hydrolase gene.

In all of the mentioned isolates of the soil bacteria Arthrobacter oxidans, plasmids could be detected after lysis of the cells and extraction of the nucleic acids.

For the species Arthrobacter oxidans P52, it can be shown that the carbamate hydrolase is coded by one plasmid.

With the loss of the plasmid pHP52 the properties of this species to be able to hydrolytically cleave phenmedipham is lost. Carbamate hydrolysis activity cannot be biochemically established in the plasmid-free derivative of the species P52.

The plasmid pHP52 can be preparatively isolated and mapped with restriction endonucleases. The electrophoretically separated restriction fragments can be transferred onto membrane filters and hybridized with the oligonucleotides. From the data from various blot-hybridizations, it appears that the carbamate hydrolase gene is localized on a PstI restriction fragment with a size of 3.3 kb.

This fragment can be preparatively isolated from the plasmid pHP52 and inserted in the PstI position of the vector pUC19C (Yanish-Perron, C., Vieira, J. & Messing (1985) Gene 33, 103 ff). After transformation of E. coli DH5α with the ligation preparation, two types of recombinant E. coli clones are obtained (pp52Pst and pp52Pst inv.) which contain the carbamate hydrolase gene in different orientations to the Lac-promoter of the vector (see FIG. 5).

The carbamate hydrolase can be functionally expressed in the presence of the inducer isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside from cultures of the clone of the type E. coli DH5α (pp52Pst). In protein extracts of clones of the type E. coli DH5α (pp52 inv.) which contain the carbamate hydrolase gene in inverse orientation to the Lac-promoter, no expression of the carbamate hydrolase gene can be detected.

The nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene can be determined according to the method of Sanger et al. (Sanger, F., Niclen, S. & Coulson, A. (1977), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, USA 74, 5463-5468).

15 sub-clones arising from the cloning of 3.3 kb long PstI restriction fragments can be constructed in the single strain DNA bacteriophages M13 mp 18 and mp 19 (Messing, J. (1983) Methods in Enzymol, 101, 20-78). In FIG. 6 an extract restriction map of the coded area is represented from which the sequencing strategy can be seen.

The established nucleotide sequence (Seq ID No. 7) with the protein sequence thus derived is illustrated in FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6). The amino acid sequences of both established BrCN-splitting peptides (see example 4) can be identified in the same reading frame as the DNA level. This reading frame ends with a TGA translation stop codon (see FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6), nucleotide positions 1789-1791) and begins very probably with a GTG-start codon (FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6)--nucleotide positions 310-312). Altogether a reading frame of 1479 base pairs results. Upstream of the putative GTG-start codon, a region with significant homology to the consensus sequence for E. coli ribosome binding sites ("Shine-Dalgarno Box") can be established (see FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6)), nucleotide positions 298-302).

After the nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene has been determined, the construction of plasmids for the expression of carbamate hydrolase in plants can be carried out (see Example 9). For this the chimeric carbamate hydrolase gene on plasmids can be transferred from E. coli to Agrobacterium tumefaciens and from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to the target plants (see Example 10). The operation of the carbamate hydrolase gene in transformed plants can be shown by spraying transformed and untransformed plants with phenmedipham (see Examples 11 and 12).

On the Aug. 25, 1987 the following micro-organisms were deposited at the German Collection of Microorganisms (DSM) in Gottingen, Germany.

    ______________________________________                                         Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 16/4/B       (DSM 4038)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 67           (DSM 4039)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 75           (DSM 4040)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 11/1/-b      (DSM 4041)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 15/4/A       (DSM 4045)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 21/2         (DSM 4046)                                       Arthrobacter oxidans                                                                          P 52, containing                                                                              (DSM 4044).                                                     the plasmid pHP52                                               Abbreviations                                                                  DEAE          Diethylaminoethyl                                                FPLC          Fast protein/peptide/polynucleotide                                            liquid Chromatography                                            SDS           Sodium lauryl sulphate                                           DTT           Dithiothreitol                                                   1 × SSC 0.15 M NaCl 0.015 M trisodium citrate                                          pH 7.0                                                           1 × Denhardt                                                                           0.02% (w/v) Bovine serum albumin                                               (Sigma, Fraction V)                                                            0.02% (w/v) Ficoll 400                                                         0.02% polyvinylpyrrolidone                                       MCS           Multiple cloning site                                            Abbreviation for restriction endonucleases                                     Bm = BamHI, Bs = BstEII, CL = ClaI, EV = EcoRV,                                HII = HindII, Kp = KpnI, Nc = NcoI, Nd = NdeI, Nh = NheI,                      Ps = PstI, PvI = PvuI, PvII = PvuII, Sc = SacI,                                Sp = SphI, St = StuI, Xb = XbaI.                                               ______________________________________                                    

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows the process for isolating and subsequent purification of phenmedipham cleaving carbamate hydrolase from Arthrobacter oxidans (Example 2).

FIG. 2 shows the electrophoretic separation of the crude extract and the isolation and pooled protein fractions after the individual purification steps on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel, in which standard proteins (M) run alongside as markers for the molecular weight.

A: Crude extract from the centrifuge supernatant of the ultrasound cell destruction of Arthrobacter oxidans.

B: Pooled protein fraction after gradient elution on a DEAE Sephacel column.

C: Ammonium sulphate precipitation of the fraction from B.

D: Protein fraction after gel filtration of the ammonium sulphate precipitation and subsequent separation on a Sephacryl S-300 column.

E: Protein fraction after separation of the pooled fraction from D by FPLC (anion exchange chromatography).

F: Protein fraction after separation of the pooled fraction E on a Superose 6 column (Example 2).

FIG. 3 shows a diagram from which the pH-optimum (pH 6.8) of the carbamate hydrolase can be obtained. The pH optimum can be established in such a way that the enzyme activity as a percentage against the pH value can be derived (Example 2).

FIG. 4 shows the restriction map of the plasmid pHP52 from the Arthrobacter oxidans (species P52).

FIG. 5 shows a scheme of cloning of the carbamate hydrolase gene. To improve clarity, the regions of the gene which hybridize with oligonucleotides used, including the 5' and 3' flanking regions are enlarged above the ring-forming plasmid map.

The recombinant clones pp52Pst and pp52Pst inv. are represented in a linear manner. The transcription direction of the lac Z gene is represented by an arrow (<)

FIG. 6 shows the restriction map of the cloned 3.3 kb PstI restriction fragment which arises from the exact position of the carbamate hydrolase gene (Start: GTG=Start codon, Stop: TGA=Stop codon).

The sequence areas are characterized by arrows under the restriction map. From the length of the arrow can be read the length of the individual sequenced areas.

The restriction fragments which contain the homology areas of the oligonucleotides described in Example 4 are emphasized in the map (----).

The M13 clones are described as follows:

    ______________________________________                                         Clone     Inserted Fragment                                                                             M13 Vector                                            ______________________________________                                         A         HdeI/SacI (puC18)˜500                                                                   mp 18                                                 B         HdeI/SacI 1289 bp                                                                             mp 18                                                 C         PvuI/PstI˜700 bp                                                                        mp 19                                                 D         PvuI/PvuI 564 bp                                                                              mp 18                                                 E         BamHI/BamHI    mp 18                                                           (pUC 19)˜1060 bp                                               F         BamHI/BamHI 958 bp                                                                            mp 18                                                 G         PvuI/PvuI 564 bp                                                                              mp 18                                                 H         PvuII/SacI 476 bp                                                                             mp 18                                                 I         ClaI/BamHI 561 bp                                                                             mp 18                                                 K         ClaI/BamHI 397 bp                                                                             mp 18                                                 L         PvuII/SacI 476 bp                                                                             mp 19                                                 M         KpnI/HindII 445 bp                                                                            mp 19                                                 N         BamHI/BamHI 958 bp                                                                            mp 18                                                 O         BamHI/BamHI 1100 bp                                                                           mp 18                                                 P         KpnI/HindII 445 bp                                                                            mp 18                                                 ______________________________________                                    

FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6) shows the nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene including the 5' and 3' flanking area.

Particularly characterized are:

1. The GTG start codon

2. The ribosomal binding site (Shine-/Dalgarno Box: S/D)

3. The homology area of the oligonucleotide described in Example 4 (oligo I and II/oligo III).

The coding nucleotide sequence was formally translated as an amino acid sequence. The reading frame is determined clearly by the protein level of the established amino acid partial sequences.

FIG. 8 shows the construction of plasmid pUPA1014. Starting from a 3.3 kb PstI fragment that originates from plasmid pHP52 (example 7) and contains the complete bacterial gene for phenmedipham carbamate hydrolase (PMPH), the untranslated 3'--region of the fragment is replaced by 0.2 kb fragment from the Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA containing the octopine synthase gene (OCS) polyadenylation signal (pA). The vectors used are pUC19 (for pp52Pst) and pUC18 (for pA5 and pUPA1014).

FIG. 9 shows the construction of plasmid pUP01015. In this cloning step the untranslated 5'--region and the N-terminal part of the coding region is removed from the carbamate hydrolase gene and replaced by a synthetic double-stranded oligonucleotide, which reconstitutes the sequence coding for the N-terminal part of the protein. The sequence surrounding the translational start codon is optimal for plant gene expression according to Lutcke et al. EMBO J. 6:43-48, 1987.

FIG. 10 shows the construction of plasmid pMCP01021. In this cloning step, the coding sequence of the recombinant carbamate hydrolase gene is linked at its 5'--end to the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter contained in plasmid pA8.

FIG. 11 shows the construction of plasmid pMA1017. In this cloning step a fragment containing the sequence that codes for the potato proteinase inhibitor II signal peptide is inserted in correct orientation between the CaMV 35S promoter and the OCS polyadenylation signal of plasmid pA8 to create an expression vector for targeting introduced genes into the endoplasmatic reticulum of plant cells.

FIG. 12 shows the construction of plasmid pMAP01022. In this cloning step the coding sequence of the recombinant carbamate hydrolase gene is linked at its 5'--end in the correct reading frame to the signal peptide sequence contained in plasmid pMA1017.

FIGS. 13A-13C shows transgenic tobacco plants WS28-19 in comparison with untransformed control tobacco W38 three weeks after treatment with the herbicide phenmedipham. Photographs A, B, C, show control plants (left) which were sprayed with 1 kg/ha, transgenic plants (middle) which were sprayed with 1 kg/ha (A), 3 kg/ha (B) and 10 kg/ha (C) or transgenic plants (right) which were not treated.

FIG. 14 shows transgenic tobacco plants WS28-19 in comparison with untransformed control tobacco W38 three weeks after treatment with the herbicide phenmediphan. Photograph D shows untransformed control plants (left) and transgenic plants (right) which were treated with 1 kg/ha phenmedipham (upper row), or left untreated (lower row), respectively.

FIG. 15 shows the relative variable fluorescence of intact leaves from a control W38 plant and a transgenic plant WS28-19 after treatment with 1 kg/ha phenmedipham. Measurements were made at indicated intervals after spraying (t=0) as described in the text. Between measurements plants were further incubated in the growth chamber under 16 hours light and 8 hours dark.

EXAMPLE 1

Isolation of microorganisms that possess the ability to inactivate the herbicide phenmedipham.

To identify microorganisms which possessed the ability to inactivate the herbicide phenmedipham by metabolism, various microorganisms were screened. As source for the microorganisms, soil samples from various locations (field test sites which had been treated several times with phenmedipham), and also from settling sediment, were used. Selection criteria for the identification of microorganisms which can carry out a carbamate cleavage, were as follows.

a) Growth in a nutrient medium with phenmedipham as a single carbon or nitrogen source.

b) Breaking down of phenmedipham to highly water soluble compounds according to the following reaction. ##STR2##

From the large number of microorganisms obtained from the soil samples, which were capable of cleavage of phenmedipham, seven representatives were chosen which clearly showed a breakdown. These soil bacteria which are all representatives of the Arthrobacter species and within this species, the sub-species of oxidans, were cultivated in culture broths containing a synthetic medium (M9-medium) having the following composition:

1.0 g/l NH₄ Cl

0.25 g/l MgSO₄ ·7H₂ O

3.0 g/l KH₂ PO₄

7.0 g/l Na₂ HPO₄ ·2H₂ O

2.0 g/l Glucose

and 0.5 g/l NACl.

The M9 medium, in addition, contained 1 mg/l thiamine (vitamin Bi) as well as trace elements which were added in the form of a stock solution (1 ml/l M9-medium). The trace element stock solution contained:

0.5 Boric acid

0.04 g/l CuSO₄ ·5H₂ O

0.2 g/l FeCl₃ ·6H₂ O

0.4 g/l MnSO₄ ·7H₂ O

0.4 g/l ZnCl₂

0.2 g/l (NH₄)₆ Mo₇ O₂₄ ·4H₂ O

For shaking cultures in liquid mediums, the synthetic medium was supplemented by 0.1% casamino acids (Difco®).

The soil bacteria were incubated in this M9 medium at 28° C. with good aeration until the end of the logarithmic growth phase. For enzyme purification, a total of 10 litres of medium were inoculated with a stationary pre-culture (1:100).

By HPLC analysis of the culture broth it was shown that in the cultures of Arthrobacter oxidans, the desired cleavage of phenmedipham to the herbicidally inactive products was achieved.

EXAMPLE 2

Isolation and purification of the carbamate hydrolase from Arthrobacter oxidans.

The isolation and subsequent purification of the carbamate hydrolase to electrophoretic homogeneity was carried out over a six stage purification process. From 6 litres of an end logarithmic culture of Arthrobacter oxidans (pHP52) (DSM No. 4044), 0.5-1 mg carbamate hydrolase was reproducibly isolated. For isolation of the carbamate hydrolase, the cells were harvested by centrifugation (7000×g) and resuspended in about 40 ml of decomposition buffer (10 mM sodium phosphate pH 6.8/1 mM DTT). The cell suspension was disrupted by ultrasound and homogenized at the same time. The homogenate was then centrifuged for 45 minutes at 40000×g, at 4° C. The sediment was removed and the supernatant, equilibrated with 100 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.2/100 mM NaCl/1 mM DTT, was applied to a DEAE Sephacel column (column diameter 2.6 mm, height of the gel bed 20.5 cm, column volume about 100 ml). Before application to the column, the cell extract was diluted at a ratio of about 1:10 with starting buffer (100 mM Tris/100 mM NaCl/1 mM DTT). The column was then washed with starting buffer in order to remove the unbound material. The carbamate hydrolase was then eluted with a linear gradient 100 mM NaCl--500 mM NaCl (5×column volume). The enzymatically active fractions were pooled and treated with dry ammonium sulphate (NH₄)₂ SO₄ to an end concentration of 33% of the saturated solution. The resulting protein precipitate was sedimented by centrifugation (20000×g/30 mins) and discarded. The supernatant was treated with solid ammonium sulphate to an end concentration of 60% of the saturated solution and stirred for about 12 hours at 0° C. The sedimented protein was collected by centrifugation (20000×g/30 mins) and dissolved in about 1 ml starting buffer, treated with 10% (w/v) saccharose and loaded to a Sephacryl S-300 column. The gel filtration was carried out at a flow rate of 2.5 cm/h (elution buffer--: start buffer). The column had a diameter of 2.6 cm, a height of 95 cm and a volume of 475 ml. The enzymatically active fraction was then worked up on an FPLC column (mono Q HR 5/5: anion exchange). Gradient elution 100 mM NaCl--: 300 mM NaCl; flow rate: 0.5 ml/mm; application volume 2 ml). The unbound protein was separated by isocratic elution with 19 ml starting buffer. (Gradient elution 100 mM NaCl--: 300 mM NaCl in 20 ml with 100 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.2/1 mM DTT).

The enzymatically active fractions were concentrated by ultra-filtration after electrophoretic analysis of the purity (SDS-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis by the method of Lammli), using an Amicon®, Centrikon 10 concentrator, and put on a FPLC gel-filtration column (Superose 6-HR 10/30, Pharmacia) (flow rate 0.2 ml/min: application volume 100 ul: eluent: 100 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.2/10 mM NaCl).

The active protein fractions which result from this step are electrophoretically homogenous.

The isolated enzyme is active in buffered solutions (i.e. buffers conventionally used in biochemical systems, such as phosphate buffers, Tris buffers etc; pH 6.8). Co-factors or metal ions are not necessary for the reaction. A sensitivity against SH reagents is also not seen. The optimum pH of the enzyme is 6.8.

The molecular weight of the carbamate hydrolase is in the range of 50-60, preferably 53-57 kd, both under denaturing/dissociating conditions (SDS gel electro-phoresis) as well as under native conditions (gel filtration). From this it follows that the carbamate hydrolase is a monomeric protein. The isoelectric point of the carbamate hydrolase is at pI=6.2.

EXAMPLE 3

Process for detecting the carbamate hydrolase.

For a quick and sure determination of enzyme activity during the purification of the crude protein extracts, an in vitro enzyme test was developed. The test is based on the ability of the enzyme to change the highly water insoluble phenmedipham into a soluble hydrolysis product. For this, solid phenmedipham was suspended in water and micronised by ultrasound. This micro-suspension was then poured, with stirring at 50° C., into an agarose solution and this mixture put into a petri dish before it solidified, where it formed into a turbid gel matrix. The enzyme solution was then put into wells which had been punched in the solid matrix. After incubation of the test plates for 2-4 hours at 30° C., the enzyme activity ws demonstrated by observing clear zones in the matrix which had been made opaque by the phenmedipham.

EXAMPLE 4

Identification of the amino acid sequence of two BrCN cleaving peptides and synthesis of oligonucleotides for specific evidence of the carbamate hydrolase gene by hybridization.

Resulting from the purified carbamate hydrolase, two peptides were isolated after BrCN cleavage, whose partial sequence was established by Edman degradation.

BrCN Peptide I (Seq ID No. 1):

    H.sub.2 N-Ser-Asp-Glu-Phe-Ala-Asn-Leu-Asp-                                     Arg-Trp-Thr-Gly-Lys-Pro-Phe-Val-Asp(Val)-                                      Gly(His)-Leu-Asp-Glu-Val-Ala-Val-COOH                                     

BrCN Peptide II (Seq ID No. 2):

    N.sub.2 H-Glu-His-Thr-Lys-Phe(Val)-Asn(Gly)-Glu-Arg(Cys)-                      Pro-Leu-Ala-Phe-Tyr-Pro-Val-Phe-Asn-Glu-COOH                              

According to the amino acid sequence information of these peptides, oligonucleotides were synthesized which could be used as hybridization probes for the detection of the carbamate hydrolase gene:

Oligonucleotide I (Seq ID No. 3) (17 mer "mixed probe") contains as the single strand DNA fragment, the sequence information of the BrCN peptide I amino acid position 10-15 (complementary strand).

          |A   |C   |A   |A   |       5'-AA |GGG |TTT |GCC |GGT |CC     A-3'                                                                                 |C   |    |C   |C   |             |T   |    |T   |T   |          Phe|Pro |Lys |Gly |Thr |Tr

Oligonucleotide II (Seq ID No. 4) (42 mer) contains as a single strand DNA fragment, the sequence information of the BrCN peptide I amino acid position 8-21 (complementary strand). The codon selection was carried out under the assumption of a guanine(G) and cytosine(C) rich DNA sequence (this takes into consideration guanine(G) and cytosine(C) nucleotides before adenine(A) and thiamine(T) nucleotides on the third position of the triplets).

    5'-CTG | GTC | CAG | GCC | GTC             | CAC | GAA |                                          Gln | Asp | Leu | Gly | Asp             | Val | Phe |                                          CGG | CTT | GCC | GGT | CCA             | GCG |                                                         Pro | Lys | Gly | Thr | Trp             | Arg |                                                      3' GTC |                                                                 Asp |                                                         

Oligonucleotide III (Seq ID No. 5) contains as the single strand DNA fragment sequence, information of the BrCN peptide II (complementary strand).

    5'- |TTC |GTT |GAA |GAC |CGG      |GTA |GAA |CGC |                               |Glu |Asn |Phe |Val |Pro      |Tyr |Phe |Ala |                      

By using these oligonucleotides it was possible to localize the carbamate hydrolase gene within the plasmid pHP52 by hybridization. For this, the plasmid DNA was cleaved with restriction endonucleases and the resulting fragments were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis and then transferred according to the method of E.M. Southern (J. Mol. Biol. 98, 503-17 (1975)) in single strand form on membrane filters (Gene Screen Plus™ hybridizing membrane, Du Pont de Nemours/NEN Research Products).

The oligonucleotides were end marked by use of T4-polynucleotide kinase (Boehringer Mannheim) and λ-³² P!-adenosine-5'-triphosphate (>5000 Ci/mmol, Du Pont de Nemours/NEN Research Products) using the method of R. B. Wallace and C. G. Miyada, Methods in Enzymology 152, 432-442 (1987) and treated without further purification for the hybridization.

The hybridization was carried out using standard processes (P. J. Mason & J. G. Williams in "Nucleic Acid Hybridization" p. 113-160 (1985) B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins Hrsg. IRL Press Oxford, Washington, D.C.). Under the conditions 6×SSC, 10×Denhardt, 0.5% w/v SDS and 100 u/ml t RNA (Beckerhefe, Boehringer Mannheim), as well as 10 ng/ml marked oligonucleotides I/II/III at 41° C. (=6 hours), a specific hybridization can be achieved. The detection of the hybrids was carried out by autoradiography (T Maniatis, E F Fritsch & J Sambrook, "Molecular Cloning", Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1982)).

EXAMPLE 5

Isolation and characterization of the plasmid pHP52 from Arthrobacter oxidans P52.

For isolation of plasmid pH52 from Arthrobacter, the alkali extraction method of Birnboim and Doly (Birnboim H. C. & Doly J. (1979) Nucl. Acid Res., 7, 1513-1523) was used, with a modification by Brandsch and Decker (Brandsch, R. & Decker, K. (1984) Arch. Microbiol. 138, 15-17). For plasmid preparation, the bacteria were cultivated in 6 litres of LB-medium comprising:

    ______________________________________                                         Bacto-trypton (Difco ®)                                                                            10         g/l                                         Bacto-Yeast-Extract (Difco ®)                                                                      5          g/l                                         NaCl                    10         g/l                                         ______________________________________                                    

to a cell density of OD₅₅₀ =1.4 and harvested by centrifuging.

The cells were resuspended in a total of 210 ml solution I (50 mM glucose; 10 mM EDTA; 25 mM Tris/HCl, pH 8.0; 1 mg/ml lysosyme) and incubated for 1 hour at room temperature. Lysis was carried out by addition of 360 ml solution II (0.2M NaOH; 1% SDS). After gentle but thorough mixing and subsequent incubation for 5 minutes at room temperature, followed by cooling on ice for 5 minutes, the mixture was neutralized by the addition of 180 ml solution III (2M Tris/HCl, pH 7.0/0.5M KCl. After incubation for 1 hour on ice, the undissolved precipitate was separated by centrifugation. The plasmid DNA was precipitated from the clear supernatant by addition of 0.6 volumes isopropanol and, after an incubation of 15 minutes at room temperature, pelleted by centrifugation (15,000×g/30 minutes). The plasmid-containing precipitate was dried in vacuo and dissolved in 24 ml 10×TE buffer (100 mM Tris/HCl, pH 8.0; 10 mM EDTA). This plasmid containing solution was then purified by isopycnic cesium chloride density gradient, centrifuging in the presence of Ethidium bromide (Maniatis T., Fritsch E. F. & Sambrook J. in "Molecular Cloning" (1982), Cold Spring Harbor N.Y.).

Purified plasmid DNA was mapped by restriction analysis which cut the plasmid once or gave several fragments. These fragments were resolved by agarose gel electrophoresis (0.8% w/v). Molecular weight standards used in mapping plasmid DNA were Hind III or Hind III and EcoRI digested bacteriophage DNA.

The restriction analysis data were consistent with a circular map of pHP52 (FIG. 4). The size of the plasmid is the sum of individual restriction fragments.

All the processes were carried out in this Example according to standard methods (cf. Maniatis T., Fritsch E. F. & Sambrook J. in "Molecular Cloning" Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1982)).

EXAMPLE 6

Identification of the coding region of the carbamate hydrolase gene by oligonucleotide hybridization.

By hybridization of the restriction fragments of the plasmid pHP52 separated by gel electrophoresis and transferred on membrane filters with the 32p marked oligonucleotide described in Example 4, the position of the coding region of the carbamate hydrolase gene can be definitely correlated on the restriction map of the plasmid pHP52. In FIG. 5, the hybridizing area is enlarged. All three oligonucleotides hybridize with the central part of a PstI restriction fragment of size 3.3 kb. In FIG. 6, a detailed restriction map of the fragment is shown from which the exact positions of the hybridizing areas can be seen.

EXAMPLE 7

Cloning of the carbamate hydrolase gene in E. coli and demonstration of the genes' expression under Lac promoter control.

For cloning the carbamate hydrolase gene in E. coli the vector pUC19 (Yannish-Perron, C., Vieira, J., & Messing, J. (1985) Gene 33, 103ff) was used. The pUC19 DNA was linearised by cleavage with restriction nuclease PstI and treated with alkaline phosphatase. The DNA of the 3.3 kb long PstI restriction fragment of the plasmid pHP52 was isolated (after digesting the wild-type plasmid DNA with PstI) by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis. The linearised and dephosphorylated vector DNA and the 3.3 kb long PstI fragment was then ligated with T4 DNA ligase. E. coil DH5α was transformed with the ligation mixture.

Two types of clones were obtained which contained the fragment in different orientations to the transcription direction of the lac Z' gene of the vector pUC 19. These are the clones pp52 Pst and pp52 Pst inv. The restriction map of both clones is shown in FIG. 5. The clones of type E. coli pp52 Pst express carbamate hydrolase, after addition of the inductor isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranosid to the culture medium. Without inducer addition (repressed state of the Lac promoter) to logarithmic cultures of the clone pp52 Pst as well as by repressed and induced logarithmic cultures of the clone pp52 Pst inv in enzyme extracts, no enzyme activity was seen using the assays described in Example 3.

This means that the carbamate hydrolase gene in clones of type pp52 Pst lies in the same transcription direction (5'-3' orientation) as the lac Z' gene of the vector. The Arthrobacter promoter is not or only slightly expressed in E. coli.

EXAMPLE 8

Nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene from the Arthrobacter oxidans (species P52) and the deduced protein sequence.

The nucleotide sequence of the carbamate hydrolase gene was established by the method of Sanger (Sanger F., Nicklen S. & Coulson A. (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 74, 5463-5468).

For this, 15 sub-clones in the single stranded DNA bacteriophage M13 mpl18 and M13 mpl19 from the pp52 PST DNA were constructed (Messing, J. (1983) Methods in Enzymol, 101, 20-78). After transfection of E. coli DH5αF', the sequence of the single stranded recombinant DNA was established.

In FIG. 6, the sequencing strategy of the carbamate hydrolase gene is shown. Altogether the sequence of 1864 base pairs was established.

In FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6), the established nucleotide sequence is shown with the deduced amino acid sequence of the carbamate hydrolase. The reading frame is clearly defined as described by the amino acid sequences of two BrCN cleavage peptides as described in Example 4. The reading frame finishes with a TGA stop codon (nucleotide position 1789-1791 in FIG. 7 (Seq ID No. 6)). As a translation start codon, a GTG (nucleotide position 310-312) is suitable. This gives the longest open reading frame of 1479 bp (=493 amino acids). All open reading frames which begin with the usual ATG start codons give no protein of suitable size (compared to the molecular weight determination of the protein).

The hypothesis that translation starts from GTG (position 310-312) is further supported by the existence of a definite homologous region to the consensus sequence for ribosomal E. coli binding sites 7 bp upstream of the putative GTG start codon.

All cloning steps were carried out by standard processes (cf Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. & Sambrook, J. (1982) in "Molecular Cloning", Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). The sequencing reactions were carried out using Sequenase® DNA Sequencing Kits (United States Biochemical Corporation) according to information by the producer. The separation of the marked reaction products was carried in 6% w/v polyacrylamide/urea gel (Maxam, A. M. & Gilbert, W. (1980) Methods Enzymol. 65, 497-559).

EXAMPLE 9

Construction of plasmids for the expression of carbamate hydrolase in plants.

a) Construction of intermediate vectors

Plasmid DNA from pp52Pst (FIG. 8) is methylated using TaqI Methylase (M. TaqI) to make the single SaII restriction site inaccessible to HindII. Then the methylated plasmid is cut with both restriction enzymes XbaI and HindII to release a 2.2 kb DNA fragment containing the open reading frame for carbamate hydrolase. This fragment is purified by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis. The vector plasmid pA5 (FIG. 8) is cut with XbaI and HindII and then ligated with the purified 2.2 kb DNA fragment, thus linking the 3'--end of the carbamate hydrolase coding region to the polyadenylation signal of the octopine synthetase (OCS) gene (Dhaese et al., EMBO J. 2:419, 1983). Competent cells of E. coli DH5alpha are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 100 μg/ml carbenicillin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pUPA1014 (FIG. 8) are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

Two oligonucleotides of the following sequence are synthesized by an automatic synthesizer:

1) 5'-CTAGAGATCT CAACAATGGT TACCAGACCG ATCGCCCACA CCACCGCTGG G-3' (Seq ID No. 8)

2) 5'-GTCCCCAGCG GTGGTGTGGG CGATCGGTCT GGTAACCATT GTTGAGATC-3' (Seq ID No. 9)

They represent complementary DNA strands which are able to reconstitute the N-terminal portion of the open reading frame of the carbamate hydrolase gene upstream (5') of the PpuMI restriction site.

Both complementary oligonucleotides are mixed, phosphorylated by polynucleotide kinase and then annealed by shifting temperature from 70° C. to room temperature overnight. Plasmid DNA of pUPA1014 is digested with XbaI and then ligated with the annealed oligonucleotide. This covalently links two oligonucleotides at their XbaI-compatible ends to both ends of the linearised plasmid. The linear ligation product is purified by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis and digested with PpuMI to remove the N-terminal part of the coding region. The linear DNA is then recircularized by ligase treatment. Competent cells of E. coli DH5alpha are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 50 μg/ml carbenicillin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pUP01015 (FIG. 9) are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA. The correct ligation of the oligonucleotide is verified by sequence analysis of purified pUP01015 DNA using the dideoxy method (Sanger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:5463, 1977) modified for plasmid DNA as template (Chen and Seeburg, DNA 4:165, 1985).

b) Construction of plasmids for the cytoplasmatic expression of carbamate hydrolase.

Plasmid DNA of pUP01015 is digested with both restriction enzymes XbaI and HindIII to create a DNA fragment that contains the whole recombinant coding region of the carbamate hydrolase together with the polyadenylation signal described above. The fragment is then ligated with the plant expression vector plasmid pA8 (A. v. Schaewen, Dissertation, FU Berlin, 1989; FIG. 10) which was similarly treated with XbaI and HindIII. The ligation links the gene in correct orientation to the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter (Paszkowski et al., EMBO J. 3:2717, 1984) contained in pA8. Competent cells of E. coli DH5alpha are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 25 μg/ml streptomycin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pMCP01021 (FIG. 10) are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

Plasmid DNA of pMCP01021 is digested with both restriction enzymes EcoRI and HindIII to create a DNA fragment that contains the CaMV 35S promoter, the carbamate hydrolase coding region and the OCS polyadenylation signal. The fragment is then ligated with a EcoRI and HindIII cleaved vector plasmid pBIN19 that is part of the binary transformation system described by Bevan, Nucl. Acids Res. 12:8711, 1984. Competent cells of E. coli S17-1 (Simon et al. Bio/Technology 1:784-791, 1983) are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pBCP01027 are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

c) Construction of plasmids for the extracellular expression of carbamate hydrolase.

Plasmid pA22 (FIG. 11) contains a synthetic intronless sequence that codes for the signal peptide of the proteinase inhibitor II(PI) from potato and can be attached to the N-terminus of other genes to direct the gene product into the endoplasmatic reticulum of the plant cell. To create an intermediate vector for targeting of carbamate hydrolase, the DNA fragment encoding the signal peptide is excised from plasmid pA22 by cleavage with restriction enzymes KpnI and XbaI and then ligated with a KpnI and XbaI cleaved plasmid pA8. Competent cells of E. coli DH5alpha are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 25 μg/ml streptomycin. Streptomycin resistant clones are then screened for the loss of plasmid pA22 on LB-agar containing 50 μg/ml carbenicillin. Carbenicillin sensitive clones are analyzed by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA and recombined plasmids containing the signal peptide encoding sequence are designated pmA 1017 (FIG. 11).

Plasmid DNA of pUP01015 is digested with both restriction enzymes HindIII and BgIII to create a DNA fragment that contains the whole recombinant coding region of the carbamate hydrolase together with the polyadenylation signal described above. The fragment is then ligated with the plant expression vector plasmid pMA1017 which has been digested with BamHI and HindIII. The ligation links the gene in correct orientation to the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promotor (Paszkowski et al., EMBO J. 3:2717, 1984) and the proteinase inhibitor signal sequence described above. Competent cells of E. coli DH5alpha are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 25 μg/ml streptomycin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pMAP01022 (FIG. 12) are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

Plasmid DNA of pMAP01022 is digested with both restriction enzymes EcoRI and HindIII to create a DNA fragment that contains the CaMV 35S promoter, the PI signal sequence linked in frame to the carbamate hydrolase coding region and the OCS polyadenylation signal. The fragment is then ligated with a EcoRI and HindIII cleaved vector plasmid pBIN19 (Bevan, Nucl. Acids Res. 12:8711, 1984). Competent cells of E. coli S17-1 (Simon et al. Bio/Technology 1:784-791, 1983) are transformed with the recombined DNA and clones are selected on LB-agar containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin. Clones containing the recombined plasmid pBAP01027 are identified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

EXAMPLE 10

Transformation of tobacco with chimeric carbamate hydrolase genes.

a) Transfer of recombinant carbamate hydrolase from E. coli to A. tumefaciens

Strains of E. coli S17-1 containing chimeric carbamate hydrolase genes on plasmids pBCP01027 or pBAP01028 are grown at 37° C. in liquid LB medium containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin. Agrobacteria tumefaciens LBA4404 (Bevan, Nucl. Acids Res. 12:8711, 1984) is grown at 28° C. in liquid YEB medium (Yeast extract 1 g/l, beef extract 5 g/l, peptone 5 g/l, sucrose 5 g/l, sucrose 5 g/l, MgSO₄ 0.5 g/l). 0.4 ml samples of E. coli culture are centrifuged and the bacterial pellets are resuspended in 0.4 ml YEB. Bacterial suspensions of E. coli in YEB and samples of Agrobacterium tumafaciens culture in YEB are then mixed in a 1:1 ratio in relation to cell density. Samples of 50-100 μl from the mixtures are spotted onto LB-agar and incubated at 28° C. for 6-16 hours. Bacterial mating mixtures that have grown on the agar are suspended in liquid M9-salts (6 g/l Na₂ HPO₄, 3 g/l KH₂ PO₄, 0.5 g/l NaCl, 1 g/l NH₄ Cl, 2 mM MgSO₄, 0.1 mM CaCl₂, 1 mM thiamine, HCl) and then plated in several dilutions onto M9-agar containing 2 g/l sucrose and 50 μg/ml kanamycin. Plates are incubated at 28° C. for several days until bacterial colonies have grown. These colonies are further purified by subsequent cultivation on the same medium. That these clones of A. tumefaciens LBA4404 contain recombinant plasmids pBCP01027 and pBAP01028 respectively is verified by restriction analysis of isolated plasmid DNA.

b) Transfer of recombinant carbamate hydrolase from A. tumefaciens to tobacco.

For transformation of tobacco, A. tumefaciens strains harboring carbamate hydrolase plasmids are grown overnight at 28° C. in liquid YEB medium containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin. Cells are centrifuged at 5000 g for 15 minutes and resuspended in the same volume of YEB without antibiotic. Nicotiana tabacum Wisconsin W38 plantlets are grown under sterile conditions on solid MS medium containing 20 g/l sucrose. Leaves are cut from those plants, dissected into pieces of around 1 cm² and rinsed with the bacterial suspension. Leaf disks are then placed onto solid MS medium containing 20 g/l sucrose. After 2 days of incubation at room temperature in the dark, leaf disks are transferred to solid MS medium containing 16 g/l glucose, 1 mg/l benzylaminopurine, 0.2 mg/l naphthylacetic acid, 500 mg/l claforan and 50 mg/l kanamycin. Incubation is continued at 25° C. under a daily regime of 16 hours light (photosynthetically active radiation=67μEM-² s-¹) and 8 hours dark. The medium is changed every week until shoots appear. These are cut from the callus and transferred to MS medium containing 20 g/l sucrose and 250 mg/l claforan. Incubation is continued under the same conditions until roots of 1-2 cm in length have formed and plants are transferred to soil. Total RNA isolated from leaves is analyzed by northern blot hybridization using the 1.8 kb EcoRI-HindIII fragment of pUP01015 as a labeled probe. Transformed plants synthesize a transcript of around 1.8 kb in size that specifically hybridizes with the carbamate hydrolase coding sequence.

EXAMPLE 11

Detection of transformed plants which are resistant to the herbicidal activity of phenmedipham.

Transgenic plants are transferred to soil and grown in a growth chamber at 25° C. with a day/night rhythm of 16 hours light and 8 hours dark. No difference in growth can be seen between transformed and untransformed tobacco. Plants that have a leaf length of around 10 cm are sprayed with the herbicide Betanal® (active ingredient: 157 g/l phenmedipham).

Doses corresponding to field application rates of 1 kg/ha, 3 kg/ha and 10 kg/ha are used to distinguish between resistant plants and untransformed wildtype plants: Whereas 1 kg/ha is completely lethal for wildtype plants, transgenic plants which express the carbamate hydrolase gene show resistance levels between 1 kg/ha and 10 kg/ha (FIG. 13 and 14).

The same spraying experiment is done by using Betanal® AM (active ingredient: 157 g/l desmedipham) as the herbicidal agent.

EXAMPLE 12

Analysis of herbicide detoxification in plants sprayed with phenmedipham.

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing carbamate hydrolase and untransformed control plants are grown as described in Example 11 and sprayed with the herbicide Betanal® corresponding to 1 kg/ha phenmedipham. Normalized variable fluorescence is measured on intact leaves of sprayed plants as is described by Voss, Weed Science 32:675-680 (1984). The equipment used is a Kompakt Fluorometer RKF 1000 (Ingenieurburo F.U.R. Dr. M. Voss, Berlin). Measurement values before spraying are taken as 100% relative variable fluorescence. Subsequent measurements are performed in a time course of 2, 4, 8, 24 hours and then every day up to 4 days. Relative variable fluorescence values of transgenic tobacco plants expressing carbamate hydrolase stay constantly higher than 90%; in contrast values from untransformed tobacco fall below 10% within the first 8 hours after spraying (FIG. 15).

The same spraying experiment is done by using Betanal® AM (active ingredient: 157 g/l desmedipham) as the herbicidal agent.

    __________________________________________________________________________     #             SEQUENCE LISTING                                                 - (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                     -    (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 9                                              - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #acids    (A) LENGTH: 24 amino                                                           (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                              -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                    -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -      (v) FRAGMENT TYPE: internal                                             -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:1: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       - Ser Asp Glu Phe Ala Asn Leu Asp Arg Trp Th - #r Gly Lys Pro Phe Val          #                15                                                            - Xaa Xaa Leu Asp Glu Val Ala Val                                                          20                                                                 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #acids    (A) LENGTH: 18 amino                                                           (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                              -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                    -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -      (v) FRAGMENT TYPE: internal                                             -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:2: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       - Glu His Thr Lys Xaa Xaa Glu Xaa Pro Leu Al - #a Phe Tyr Pro Val Phe          #                15                                                            - Asn Glu                                                                      - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 17 base                                                            (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: YES                                                   -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:3: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       #   17             A                                                           - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 42 base                                                            (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: YES                                                   -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:4: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       #  42              ACGA ACGGCTTGCC GGTCCAGCGG TC                               - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 24 base                                                            (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: YES                                                   -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:5: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       #                24TAGA ACGC                                                   - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 1864 base                                                          (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                    -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                      (A) NAME/KEY: RBS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 298..302                                               -     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                      (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 310..1791                                              #/codon= (seq: "gta", aa: Val)N:                                                              /product=- # "carbamate hydrolase"                                             /transl.sub.-- - #except= (pos: 310 .. 312, aa: Met)            #"terminator (1789-1791)"                                                      -     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                      (A) NAME/KEY: mat.sub.-- - #peptide                                            (B) LOCATION: 310..1788                                              #ID NO:6: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       - TCCTTGCCAG TCACGGCACC CCAGCCAACC CGGAAGTGGC ACCTGCTCGG GC - #ACATCGGT          60                                                                           - GCGAACGCTT CGTCCTGATT CCGATGCCAA CTGCTTGACG GCCGTGACAC AT - #ATGTAGCA         120                                                                           - TAGTCGCCTA GCATGGACCC GCAGCACACC TGCTGTCGGC TCCCGCGCTA TC - #CCCGACCA         180                                                                           - GCGCCGGTCA CGGGTAGTCC TCGTGAGAGG CACCAGAACG ACAACGGCGC AC - #TGTCCCGC         240                                                                           - AACACGGCCG TATAACCCCA CCGGGGTCCG CGCCCGAGCT AGTTCTGGCT CA - #ACCATAAG         300                                                                           - GAGAACCTC GTG ATT ACC AGA CCG ATC GCC CAC ACC - # ACC GCT GGG GAC             348                                                                           #Ile Ala His Thr Thr Ala Gly Asp                                               #         10                                                                   - CTC GGC GGT TGC CTT GAA GAC GGC CTG TAC GT - #G TTC CGA GGA GTG CCG           396                                                                           Leu Gly Gly Cys Leu Glu Asp Gly Leu Tyr Va - #l Phe Arg Gly Val Pro            #     25                                                                       - TAC GCC GAG CCG CCG GTC GGC GAC CTG CGG TG - #G CGG GCG GCG CGC CCG           444                                                                           Tyr Ala Glu Pro Pro Val Gly Asp Leu Arg Tr - #p Arg Ala Ala Arg Pro            # 45                                                                           - CAC GCC GGC TGG ACC GGC GTC CGC GAC GCC TC - #C GCG TAT GGT CCC TCG           492                                                                           His Ala Gly Trp Thr Gly Val Arg Asp Ala Se - #r Ala Tyr Gly Pro Ser            #                 60                                                           - GCG CCG CAA CCC GTG GAG CCT GGC GGC TCG CC - #G ATC CTT GGG ACA CAC           540                                                                           Ala Pro Gln Pro Val Glu Pro Gly Gly Ser Pr - #o Ile Leu Gly Thr His            #             75                                                               - GGC GAC CCT CCG TTT GAC GAG GAC TGC CTG AC - #T CTC AAT CTT TGG ACC           588                                                                           Gly Asp Pro Pro Phe Asp Glu Asp Cys Leu Th - #r Leu Asn Leu Trp Thr            #         90                                                                   - CCG AAC CTC GAC GGC GGT AGC CGG CCG GTC CT - #C GTC TGG ATC CAT GGT           636                                                                           Pro Asn Leu Asp Gly Gly Ser Arg Pro Val Le - #u Val Trp Ile His Gly            #    105                                                                       - GGG GGC CTA CTA ACC GGC TCG GGA AAT CTA CC - #T AAC TAC GCG ACC GAT           684                                                                           Gly Gly Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Gly Asn Leu Pr - #o Asn Tyr Ala Thr Asp            110                 1 - #15                 1 - #20                 1 -        #25                                                                            - ACC TTC GCC CGC GAC GGC GAC TTG GTA GGT AT - #C TCA ATC AAT TAC CGG           732                                                                           Thr Phe Ala Arg Asp Gly Asp Leu Val Gly Il - #e Ser Ile Asn Tyr Arg            #               140                                                            - CTC GGG CCT CTT GGA TTC CTC GCA GGA ATG GG - #C GAC GAG AAT GTC TGG           780                                                                           Leu Gly Pro Leu Gly Phe Leu Ala Gly Met Gl - #y Asp Glu Asn Val Trp            #           155                                                                - CTC ACC GAT CAG GTA GAG GCA CTG CGC TGG AT - #T GCA GAT AAC GTT GCT           828                                                                           Leu Thr Asp Gln Val Glu Ala Leu Arg Trp Il - #e Ala Asp Asn Val Ala            #       170                                                                    - GCC TTC GGT GGA GAC CCG AAC CGG ATC ACT CT - #C GTC GGT CAA TCA GGC           876                                                                           Ala Phe Gly Gly Asp Pro Asn Arg Ile Thr Le - #u Val Gly Gln Ser Gly            #   185                                                                        - GGG GCA TAC TCG ATC GCA GCG CTC GCC CAA CA - #C CCG GTC GCC CGT CAG           924                                                                           Gly Ala Tyr Ser Ile Ala Ala Leu Ala Gln Hi - #s Pro Val Ala Arg Gln            190                 1 - #95                 2 - #00                 2 -        #05                                                                            - CTG TTC CAC CGC GCG ATC CTA CAA AGC CCA CC - #A TTC GGG ATG CAA CCC           972                                                                           Leu Phe His Arg Ala Ile Leu Gln Ser Pro Pr - #o Phe Gly Met Gln Pro            #               220                                                            - CAT ACA GTT GAA GAA TCG ACG GCA AGG ACG AA - #G GCC CTG GCC CGG CAT          1020                                                                           His Thr Val Glu Glu Ser Thr Ala Arg Thr Ly - #s Ala Leu Ala Arg His            #           235                                                                - CTC GGG CAC GAT GAC ATC GAG GCC CTG CGC CA - #T GAG CCG TGG GAG AGG          1068                                                                           Leu Gly His Asp Asp Ile Glu Ala Leu Arg Hi - #s Glu Pro Trp Glu Arg            #       250                                                                    - CTG ATT CAA GGC ACG ATA GGC GTC CTG ATG GA - #A CAC ACC AAA TTT GGC          1116                                                                           Leu Ile Gln Gly Thr Ile Gly Val Leu Met Gl - #u His Thr Lys Phe Gly            #   265                                                                        - GAA TGG CCC CTG GCA TTC TAT CCG GTG TTC GA - #T GAG GCA ACG ATA CCT          1164                                                                           Glu Trp Pro Leu Ala Phe Tyr Pro Val Phe As - #p Glu Ala Thr Ile Pro            270                 2 - #75                 2 - #80                 2 -        #85                                                                            - CGC CAT CCG ATT GAG TCC ATT ATC GAT TCC GA - #C ATC GAA ATC ATC ATC          1212                                                                           Arg His Pro Ile Glu Ser Ile Ile Asp Ser As - #p Ile Glu Ile Ile Ile            #               300                                                            - GGC TGG ACA CGC GAC GAG GGC ACT TTT CCG TT - #T GCC TTC GAC CCT CAG          1260                                                                           Gly Trp Thr Arg Asp Glu Gly Thr Phe Pro Ph - #e Ala Phe Asp Pro Gln            #           315                                                                - GTT TCA CAG GCG GAT CGC GAT CAG GTC GAG TC - #A TGG TTG CAG AAG CGT          1308                                                                           Val Ser Gln Ala Asp Arg Asp Gln Val Glu Se - #r Trp Leu Gln Lys Arg            #       330                                                                    - TTC GGA GAC CAC GCC GCC TCG GCC TAC GAG GC - #T CAC GCC GGC GAC GGA          1356                                                                           Phe Gly Asp His Ala Ala Ser Ala Tyr Glu Al - #a His Ala Gly Asp Gly            #   345                                                                        - ACC AGT CCT TGG ACC GTT ATC GCC AAC GTT GT - #G GGC GAC GAG CTC TTT          1404                                                                           Thr Ser Pro Trp Thr Val Ile Ala Asn Val Va - #l Gly Asp Glu Leu Phe            350                 3 - #55                 3 - #60                 3 -        #65                                                                            - CAC AGC GCT GGG TAC CGG GTC GCG GAC GAA CG - #G GCA ACG CGC AGA CCG          1452                                                                           His Ser Ala Gly Tyr Arg Val Ala Asp Glu Ar - #g Ala Thr Arg Arg Pro            #               380                                                            - GTA CGG GCC TAT CAG TTC GAC GTA GTC TCG CC - #C TTG TCG GAC GGA GCC          1500                                                                           Val Arg Ala Tyr Gln Phe Asp Val Val Ser Pr - #o Leu Ser Asp Gly Ala            #           395                                                                - CTC GGC GCG GTC CAC TGC ATC GAA ATG CCG TT - #C ACA TTT GCC AAT CTC          1548                                                                           Leu Gly Ala Val His Cys Ile Glu Met Pro Ph - #e Thr Phe Ala Asn Leu            #       410                                                                    - GAC CGT TGG ACG GGG AAG CCG TTC GTG GAC GG - #C CTG GAT CCA GAC GTG          1596                                                                           Asp Arg Trp Thr Gly Lys Pro Phe Val Asp Gl - #y Leu Asp Pro Asp Val            #   425                                                                        - GTG GCT CGG GTG ACC AAC GTG TTG CAT CAG GC - #C TGG ATC GCA TTC GTC          1644                                                                           Val Ala Arg Val Thr Asn Val Leu His Gln Al - #a Trp Ile Ala Phe Val            430                 4 - #35                 4 - #40                 4 -        #45                                                                            - CGA ACG GGA GAC CCC ACG CAC GAC CAG TTG CC - #G GTG TGG CCA ACG TTC          1692                                                                           Arg Thr Gly Asp Pro Thr His Asp Gln Leu Pr - #o Val Trp Pro Thr Phe            #               460                                                            - CGA GCG GAC GAC CCA GCG GTG TTG GTC GTC GG - #C GAC GAG GGA GCA GAG          1740                                                                           Arg Ala Asp Asp Pro Ala Val Leu Val Val Gl - #y Asp Glu Gly Ala Glu            #           475                                                                - GTG GCG CGG GAT CTA GCG CGC CCG GAC CAC GT - #C AGC GTT CGG ACC CTA          1788                                                                           Val Ala Arg Asp Leu Ala Arg Pro Asp His Va - #l Ser Val Arg Thr Leu            #       490                                                                    - TGA GGGTCGCGGG TCGCCGGGGT CTTGAGGCCG GAGGGCCTCG CGTATGCAG - #T               1841                                                                            *                                                                             #              1864GCCA GTT                                                    - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                     (A) LENGTH:  493 ami - #no acids                                               (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                              -           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: - # SEQ ID NO:7:                        - Met Ile Thr Arg Pro Ile Ala His Thr Thr Al - #a Gly Asp Leu Gly Gly          #                 15                                                           - Cys Leu Glu Asp Gly Leu Tyr Val Phe Arg Gl - #y Val Pro Tyr Ala Glu          #             30                                                               - Pro Pro Val Gly Asp Leu Arg Trp Arg Ala Al - #a Arg Pro His Ala Gly          #         45                                                                   - Trp Thr Gly Val Arg Asp Ala Ser Ala Tyr Gl - #y Pro Ser Ala Pro Gln          #     60                                                                       - Pro Val Glu Pro Gly Gly Ser Pro Ile Leu Gl - #y Thr His Gly Asp Pro          # 80                                                                           - Pro Phe Asp Glu Asp Cys Leu Thr Leu Asn Le - #u Trp Thr Pro Asn Leu          #                 95                                                           - Asp Gly Gly Ser Arg Pro Val Leu Val Trp Il - #e His Gly Gly Gly Leu          #           110                                                                - Leu Thr Gly Ser Gly Asn Leu Pro Asn Tyr Al - #a Thr Asp Thr Phe Ala          #       125                                                                    - Arg Asp Gly Asp Leu Val Gly Ile Ser Ile As - #n Tyr Arg Leu Gly Pro          #   140                                                                        - Leu Gly Phe Leu Ala Gly Met Gly Asp Glu As - #n Val Trp Leu Thr Asp          145                 1 - #50                 1 - #55                 1 -        #60                                                                            - Gln Val Glu Ala Leu Arg Trp Ile Ala Asp As - #n Val Ala Ala Phe Gly          #               175                                                            - Gly Asp Pro Asn Arg Ile Thr Leu Val Gly Gl - #n Ser Gly Gly Ala Tyr          #           190                                                                - Ser Ile Ala Ala Leu Ala Gln His Pro Val Al - #a Arg Gln Leu Phe His          #       205                                                                    - Arg Ala Ile Leu Gln Ser Pro Pro Phe Gly Me - #t Gln Pro His Thr Val          #   220                                                                        - Glu Glu Ser Thr Ala Arg Thr Lys Ala Leu Al - #a Arg His Leu Gly His          225                 2 - #30                 2 - #35                 2 -        #40                                                                            - Asp Asp Ile Glu Ala Leu Arg His Glu Pro Tr - #p Glu Arg Leu Ile Gln          #               255                                                            - Gly Thr Ile Gly Val Leu Met Glu His Thr Ly - #s Phe Gly Glu Trp Pro          #           270                                                                - Leu Ala Phe Tyr Pro Val Phe Asp Glu Ala Th - #r Ile Pro Arg His Pro          #       285                                                                    - Ile Glu Ser Ile Ile Asp Ser Asp Ile Glu Il - #e Ile Ile Gly Trp Thr          #   300                                                                        - Arg Asp Glu Gly Thr Phe Pro Phe Ala Phe As - #p Pro Gln Val Ser Gln          305                 3 - #10                 3 - #15                 3 -        #20                                                                            - Ala Asp Arg Asp Gln Val Glu Ser Trp Leu Gl - #n Lys Arg Phe Gly Asp          #               335                                                            - His Ala Ala Ser Ala Tyr Glu Ala His Ala Gl - #y Asp Gly Thr Ser Pro          #           350                                                                - Trp Thr Val Ile Ala Asn Val Val Gly Asp Gl - #u Leu Phe His Ser Ala          #       365                                                                    - Gly Tyr Arg Val Ala Asp Glu Arg Ala Thr Ar - #g Arg Pro Val Arg Ala          #   380                                                                        - Tyr Gln Phe Asp Val Val Ser Pro Leu Ser As - #p Gly Ala Leu Gly Ala          385                 3 - #90                 3 - #95                 4 -        #00                                                                            - Val His Cys Ile Glu Met Pro Phe Thr Phe Al - #a Asn Leu Asp Arg Trp          #               415                                                            - Thr Gly Lys Pro Phe Val Asp Gly Leu Asp Pr - #o Asp Val Val Ala Arg          #           430                                                                - Val Thr Asn Val Leu His Gln Ala Trp Ile Al - #a Phe Val Arg Thr Gly          #       445                                                                    - Asp Pro Thr His Asp Gln Leu Pro Val Trp Pr - #o Thr Phe Arg Ala Asp          #   460                                                                        - Asp Pro Ala Val Leu Val Val Gly Asp Glu Gl - #y Ala Glu Val Ala Arg          465                 4 - #70                 4 - #75                 4 -        #80                                                                            - Asp Leu Ala Arg Pro Asp His Val Ser Val Ar - #g Thr Leu                      #               490                                                            - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 51 base                                                            (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                    -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      -     (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                              (A) ORGANISM: Arthrobacter - # oxidans                                         (B) STRAIN: P52                                                      #ID NO:8: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       #             51CAATGGT TACCAGACCG ATCGCCCACA CCACCGCTGG G                     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:                                             -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                           #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 49 base                                                            (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                 -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                        -    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                    -     (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                      #ID NO:9: (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ                                       #               49GTGGG CGATCGGTCT GGTAACCATT GTTGAGATC                        __________________________________________________________________________ 

We claim:
 1. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated, wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P52 (DSM 4044).
 2. The purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans according to claim 1, characterized in that the carbamate hydrolase gene consists of an open reading frame with a nucleotide sequence of 1479 base pairs.
 3. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbarmate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 16/4/B (DSM 4038).
 4. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbarmate hydrolase gene, and from which carbarmate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 67 (DSM 4039).
 5. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 75 (DSM 4040).
 6. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said rurified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 11/1/-b (DSM 4041).
 7. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 15/4/A (DSM 4045).
 8. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, which contains and expresses a carbamate hydrolase gene, and from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated,wherein said purified culture has all the characteristics of strain P 21/2 (DSM 4046).
 9. A purified culture of Arthrobacter oxidans, from which carbamate hydrolase can be isolated, wherein said culture has all the characteristics of at least one culture selected from the croup consisting of P 16/4/B, P 67, P 75, P 11/1/-b, P 15/4/A, and P 21/2. 